A Kiss for the Snow
by Sakura no Furuoi
Summary: Akito will stop at nothing to get tohru out of the lives of the sohmas. can tohru release the curse placed upon the sohmas with a kiss? going to be a long story, rated for later chapters. starts off slow, but keep going! Lemons in final chapters to come!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters (although I wish I owned Yuki)

This is my first ever fanfic ever, so do not be mean. 'sides, I think you'll like it anyway. This definitely isn't the first story I've ever written, so I know that the grammar and stuff should be decent.

-----

"Good morning, Yuki!" said Tohru brightly as Yuki entered the kitchen drowsily. "Did you sleep okay last night?" She asked

"Yes, I did, thank y-" he was cut off by a nice long yawn. "Oh dear, excuse me." He said, flushing a little.

Kyou walked into the room no sooner and bumped into Yuki.

"Watch where you're going, cat!" Yuki threatened as he began to wake up more fully.

"You watch what _you're_ doing, rat!" Kyou spat back. "You should stay out of _my_ way!"

Tohru could see exactly where this was going and tried to calm down the two.

"Please, o-oh, please don't fight!" she tried in desperation to get their attention without getting caught in the middle, but her efforts were to no avail.

"Don't worry about them Tohru," Said Shigure as he too, entered the kitchen. "You know that they'll calm down eventually." He smiled kindly at Tohru and she couldn't help but smile back and feel reassured.

The Sohmas were so kind to have taken her in like they did and she was eternally grateful. Tohru also enjoyed living with them. Life was never boring when Yuki, Kyou and Shigure are around.

Tohru attempted to ignore the arguing and began to make breakfast. She had the rice balls done and was heating up a pot of water for the yakisoba noodles.

Yuki and Kyou finally got tired of fighting and they headed to the dining room to sit with Shigure.

As Tohru leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to get hot, thoughts of Akito flooded her mind. Ever since he made his _promise_, nightmares were beginning to plague Tohru. After having restless sleep for the last four nights, she could feel her body becoming weaker and she was beginning to get another one of her fevers.

But that wouldn't get her down! She had so much to be thankful for; living with Yuki and the others, having an actual home to live in, and her friends Hana and Uo were great too. She wouldn't tell anybody about it and she would just keep going like she always does.

The noodles were done now and she was ready to go serve it to the others.

"This tastes good, Tohru." Complimented Shigure, and the other nodded their approval. "Yes, very good indeed. We are all very lucky that we have you around to cook for us."

"Thank-you." Tohru replied with a smile.

The walk to school took more effort than Tohru expected. It was hard for her to just walk straight, but she managed it without anybody noticing her weakened state. What really made it hard, was explaining to Yuki and Kyou why she was so quiet.

The truth was, it was taking all she had just to get to school. It is going to be terrible when she has to go to work later that afternoon. She didn't even have the energy to spare for talking.

It was hard to pay attention in class because Tohru's head was spinning and her temperature was rising. Somehow, she managed to get through the day without anyone noticing, but on the way to work, her fever had risen to the point where she couldn't think clearly.

Her limbs seemed to obey only themselves and Tohru's feet kept stumbling over themselves until they made her trip and fall. She was so weak that she couldn't even think fast enough to break her fall.

It was really too bad that she had to work today because Yuki and Kyou were expecting her to be at work today. They were safely on their way home from school. Instead of taking the sidewalk to work, she decided to walk through the forest path.

To put more weight on the situation, Tohru felt a sharp pain in her ankle when she attempted to get back to her feet. Now she was stranded out here unless somebody happens to walk by.

The ground was hard, and the sharp pebbles were pressing into her arms, legs and her face and they hurt badly, but being able to rest her fatigued body felt so good that she didn't have the will to move.

Her vision began to blur from the never ceasing ache in her head, so she closed her eyes in hopes to kill a bit of the pain. Naturally, sleep came to overwhelm her.

-----

RING! RING! RING!

"Hey, Yuki?" asked Shigure "will you get the phone?"

"I'm a little busy." Yuki answered, looking up from his homework. "will you get it, Kyou?" he asked

"Sure, whatever." Kyou answered haughtily. "Hello?" He said into the receiver.

"Hello," replied a woman's voice. "Is Tohru Honda available?"

"Of course not." Kyou replied annoyed. "She's at work."

"I'm afraid that's not so." The lady said nervously. "She didn't show up today. Are you telling me, she's not there?"

"I got to go!" Kyou said sideways as he slammed the phone back down.

The slam got the attention of the other two. "Get ready to go." Kyou yelled at the others as he rushed into the hall. "Tohru is missing. I think something must have happened to her. We have to go find her!"

Shigure stayed where he was and announced that he was going to stay behind in case she were to return to the house and needed help.

Yuki and Kyou were out of the house in under a minute racing down the path to the main road. It was now dark outside and the rain was beginning to fall. When they reached the main road, Kyou took off down the side walk while Yuki took the forest path. Yuki knew that Tohru often took this route to work because she enjoyed the scenery.

Both ran as fast as they could, straining their eyes in the dark for their precious friend. When Yuki found Tohru, she was still unconscious. He rolled her unto her back and checked her pulse to make sure that she was still alive. The thought of anything happening to her made tears come to Yuki's eyes.

He rolled her over, wrapping an arm around her neck and under her knees and picked her up. Tohru was surprising light to Yuki and this made him worry. _Was she not eating right?_

He didn't have time to worry about that right now, Tohru needed to see a doctor. It is strange for a person to just collapse in the middle of the forest.

When Yuki got back to the main street, Kyou was just coming back from his search. You could see the relieved look in is eye to see that Yuki had found Tohru.

"Do you want me to carry her?" Kyou asked.

"No," Yuki answered "I've got her, and she's really light."

-----

It was so cold. Tohru's body was wracked with constant shivering. The floor was so cold…

_Where am I?_ Thought Tohru, looking around. _I thought I was in the forest._

The room she sat in seemed familiar. The only piece of furniture in the room was a throne like chair on a platform at one end. It had curtains draped over it, as if it were some kind of throne.

Within the blink of her eye, a man appeared to be sitting in the chair.

"Wh-who are you?" Tohru asked as she tried to make out the figure in the shadows.

"I promise…" he chuckled "You will be defiled; you will regret ever having met the Sohmas."

"Escuse me?" Tohru asked, wide eyed. "W-what?"

Instead of answering her question, the man stood and began to inch closer and closer to Tohru.

The shadows faded away to reveal that haunting face of Akito. His eyes were glaring down upon Tohru as she began to inch backward, away from Akito.

"Please," she cried "Don't hurt me! I didn't mean to do any harm!"

She bumped into the wall just as Akito came to stand right over her.

Tohru began to panic, and as a last resort, she began to wail for help. She cried helplessly into the night as Akito chuckled above her.

"Help me!" Yuki! Kyou!"

The tears streamed down her face in currents and she began to sob.

"Akito, please! No!"

-----

Tohru's cries could be heard all through the house.

Yuki and Kyou were the first ones on the scene, seeing as how their rooms were on either side of Tohru's.

"Tohru!" Yuki called as he crouched down at her side.

She was tossing and turning horridly in her sleep, and she was sobbing as if someone were beating her.

"Tohru, Tohru! Wake up!" Yuki said in a hushed voice so as to not frighten the girl.

"Tohru…" Kyou pleaded

Shigure came in quietly and sat down on Tohru's other side. He looked very worried.

"I called Hatori," Shigure told Yuki. " He should be here soon."

As if someone had dumped cold water on her, Tohru sat up suddenly and took in a sharp breath. It took her a moment to regain her stature before she noticed that the boys were there.

"Oh!" She said surprised as she blinked the tears away. "Was I talking in my sleep?" she asked nervously as she gave a false giggle. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She looked down, obviously embarrassed.

"Miss Honda," Yuki asked softly. "What were you dreaming?"

"Oh, nothing really scary. I was…um… just remembering the day my mother died…that's all." She gave another nervous laugh.

"If you need anything," Shigure said, "just tell me. Because, if anything is bothering you, it's bothering us too."

"Oh, okay." Tohru said quietly.

"Let's give her some space." Kyou piped in. " She probably wants to sleep.

"Yes, let's go, Shigure." Agreed Yuki, and they exited the room.

Tohru lay in bed deep in thought, but unable to go back to sleep. Her head was throbbing once again, and she was burning with a fever. Should she tell them what Akito said? Would it upset Yuki, since it was his older brother? These and other questions haunted Tohru.

-----

So! What do you think? Did I do a good job? I would really appreciate some reviews!!


	2. Chapter 2

Soooo…. I'm gonna be going to Mexico for a little bit…like…6 weeks…little bit. I don't think I'll be able to upload anything for that period of time. _Plus_…I don't actually have the internet at my house, so I have to upload at my friend's house. _Sorry_.

Well, enjoy chapter two.

-----

Yuki, Kyou and Shigure quietly made their way downstairs instead of going back to bed. They were extremely worried about Tohru, and they wanted to get down to the bottom of this mystery.

"Shigure," Yuki began as soon as they were downstairs. "What do you think could have done this to her? I understand now that this hasn't just been going on today. She has a fever, she has lost quiet a bit of weight, and this isn't the first time that I've woken up to her having a nightmare. Although, she never had one this horrifying."

"You must not sleep very deeply," Said Kyou hautily. "because she never woke me up before."

"I could hear her crying in the night, you stupid cat." Said Yuki.

"Keep it down guys." Shigure said quietly. "You don't want Tohru to have to wake up again, do you? I think she's had quite enough already." 

"Yes, I agree." Said Yuki, and Kyou mumbled his agreement as well.

"Is she still awake?" asked Hatori at the door way.

"I sure hope not." Said Shigure. "you can go up and check if you want."

"Then I will be right back." With that, he headed upstairs.

"How could we have been so stupid to have not realized that Tohru has been suffering for some time now?" said Kyou in his rough way.

"I noticed." Said Yuki. "Your just a shallow cat. You never realize anything even when it's right under your nose."

"Take that back you dumb rat!" Kyou said, raising his voice.

"Stop guys," said Shigure, stepping in once again. "Do you really want to upset Tohru more with your fighting?"

"…"

"…"

"Now," Shigure said, changing the subject. "Where has Tohru been in the past week that she doesn't normally go?"

"She took a trip to the Sohma complex about five days ago." Said Yuki softly. "But who would want to hurt Tohru? Who is even sick enough-" He cut off at his realization. Akito. He must be the one responsible for this.

"Akito…" whispered Kyou. "That guy has problems with everybody. They just get bigger when it comes to someone who isn't in the zodiac."

"What did he do to her-" Yuki said, surprisingly, darkly. "If I get my hands on him…"

"Now Yuki," said Shigure, who was still calm as ever, like he usually was. "we don't need to jump to conclusions. Let's get the facts straight from Tohru herself, and if this information is true, we both know that there is nothing that we can do but protect her."

"and that's what I'll do." Said Yuki confidently

"and don't forget me." Said Kyou, giving off one of his rare smiles. " Nothing will get past me as long as I'm still breathing."

-----

"Tohru?" asked Hatori quietly, in case she was sleeping again. "Are you awake?"

Tohru sat up and looked over to see who was there. "Oh," she said with a weak smile. " Hello Hatori. I'm really not in that bad of shape! I just had a nightmare, that's all."

"That's not what I heard," he said kindly " Now let me take your temperature."

Tohru went to pull her legs out from under her blanket, but the sharp pain came back, causing Tohru to cry out in pain.

"Tohru," said Hatori alarmed. " What is is."

"Well, I think I hurt my ankle when I tripped in the forest."

"Let me see that." He said. "Yep, that's broken alright. I'll fix that up too."

It took no long than ten minute for Tohru to get her foot in a bandage. Hatori gave her a bit of medicine for her fever and then packed his bag back up.

"Tohru," began Hatori as he sat down at the foot of her bed. "What happened? What is gave you that nightmare."

"I-I…"

"Was it something someone at school did to you? Did someone threaten you?"

"N-no…"

"You need to tell someone what happened soon so that they can help you with this. I know you like to handle stuff on your own, but I think this is something you need to rely on others for. From what I heard, you were pretty shaken up."

"I know. But I think I'll be okay. I always have been." She laughed nervously. "Don't worry about me."

"Okay." Said Hatori as he stood up. He looked away before continuing. "You know, those guys down there, really care about you. If anything were to happen, they would be devastated."

"I understand."

-----

"She didn't tell me anything."

"I see." Said Shigure. " I had a feeling she wouldn't. We all know good-'ol-Tohru, always trying to hide her problems so that she won't be a burden on anyone else."

"I guess I'll be going home now."

"Thank-you and good-night." Shigure called after Hatori as he left.

Yuki and Kyou said that they were going back to bed, but Shigure knew better. They were most likely going to go watch over Tohru for the rest of the night.

Shigure crept quietly up the stairs and peeped into Tohru's room, and sure enough, there was Yuki and Kyou, transformed, cuddling next to the sleeping girl.

"_She never would've gotten to sleep on her own, so I mixed in some knock out herb into her fever medicine." Hatori had told Shigure. "I don't suggest letting her go anywhere for the next couple of days. Let her stay home and rest. Maybe she'll tell about what had happened..." _

Shigure was extremely exhausted, so he went to bed like the others and slept the night away.

-----

The next morning, Yuki and Kyou woke long before Tohru. It was lucky for them, because they had transformed back and were laying naked next to her.

Tohru slept almost all day. Yuki and Kyou even skipped school to make sure that Tohru would be okay. The semester was almost over anyway, and then summer break would follow.

"Yuki?" asked Tohru as she began to wake. The little grey rat was laying next to her, peacefully sleeping. She smiled warmly, before sitting up and grabbing the crutches that Hatori had left for her. They seemed simple enough to use, but she found it was much too hard for her to balance with her head spinning, and she fell with a loud crash. Yuki awoke with a start, and Kyou was there in seconds.

"Are you all right, Tohru?" asked Kyou as he bent down to help her up.

"I'm okay…" she said " I just need a bit of water. I'm quite thirsty."

"I'll get it for you." Said Kyou and he darted out the door to complete his task.

"Miss Honda," said Yuki as he padded up to her "are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine." She answered with an awkward smile.

"I'm glad." The little rat said.

POOF!

On instinct, Tohru looked away and covered her eyes while Yuki went to get dressed.

"I got your water, Tohru!" said Kyou upon his return. "Here you go!"

Tohru was exceedingly glad to get something to wet down her throat. Kyou even went to the trouble of putting ice in it.

"Thank-you so much Kyou!" said Tohru as she handed the glass back to him.

"Would you like some help to get back on you bed?" Yuki asked, offering his hand.

"Yes, please." Said Tohru with another of her cute smiles.

Kyou grabbed her other hand and the two lifted the girl onto her bed.

For the next couple of days, Yuki read to Tohru and told her many of the zodiac stories that he had learned when he was a child. Kyou would sit on the roof over Tohru's bedroom and enjoy the sound of her sweet singing when Yuki wasn't there. This is how things went until Akito came for a visit…

-----

Ha Ha! I have left a cliff hanger!!!!! And I'm gonna be gone for a long time too!! xD anyway, I will try to upload as soon as I can!

Je Ne!!


	3. Chapter 3

okay, so now i have truly found out the torcher of anonymous reviews; ones that i want to actually reply to. I just wanted to say that i think that you are mean for saying that cuz i really thought that akito was yukis brother. at least that is what the show said when i watched it in english. so i just wanted to say that i want akito to stay yuki's brother. okay? is that okay with you? okay. hmph!

i decided to try and fit in one more chapter before i went to mexico because i got a praise for my work. and i am going to stop wasting time by typing this before message so that i may continue and get rid of "THE CLIFFE".

-----

"Akito-" said Shigure surprised "I didn't expect you to show up here."

"I decided to pay a visit to that _dear_ Tohru of yours." he said with an evil glint in his eyes. "Is she taking visiters right now?"

"She might be asleep." Shigure said slowly as he began to suspect something was up. "She is going to return to school tomarrow so that she doesn't fail the term."

"I see." said Akito. "Well then I guess I will just have to up there and check on her.

Before Shigure could refuse, Akito pushed his way past Shigure and began his ascend to Tohru's room.

Tohru lay, sleeping, as Akito strode over to her side.

"Tohru..." he whispered lowly. "How have you been?"

"Hm?" she mumbled as she came to. When she saw Akito, she stiffened and became wide eyed.

"Did you miss me?" he asked with a cruel smile upon his face.

"Wh-why a-are you h-here?" Tohru managed to push out.

"Oh," he said. "I have come to see you. I heard that you were dreaming up a storm. I came to see if you were dreaming..." He smirked "of me."

"O-oh. no! I was dreaming of... my mother." she smiled shyly, trying to divert his attention. " You know, post trauma! It's a doosy!"

"I don't believe it." he said simply, no longer smiling. Akito leaned over Tohru until thier noses were less than an inch apart. Tohru's eyes grew wide. "Did you honestly think that i would leave you alone?"

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked quietly, but inside she wanted to scream for help. Shigure would be up in in less than a minute, but she didn't want anyone to get hurt. Tohru was aware that Akito had a history of violence.

"I want you away from the Sohmas." he hissed at her.

"B-but-" she looked down. She had the feeling that something like this would happen, but she wished it wouldn't have. "I need these guys. They're all I have left. My mom and my dad have passed away, and I couldn't just ask to move back in with my grandfather. Please..." she pleaded "Please let me stay."

The tear began to bud at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let him see her in such a pitiful state.

"Oh, I see." he hissed, no longer smiling, but instead his brow was furrowed. " You think you can just march in, and then expect to be able to stay. I think not."

Akito grabbed Tohru by the collar and slammed her against the wall. She cried out in fear and fright.

_Please,_ she thought, _let Shigure hear that!_

"There's talk around the Sohma house, that your the one who can break the curse." He glared down at her while she tried to keep from looking into his ever furious gaze. "If you really are the cure, then cure me." The hatred went from anger to maddness. "I don't want to die." he said with his jaw clenched.

His hold un Tohru became so tight that she couldn't breathe. She tried to wriggle free, but his grip was iron.

"Akito." said Shigure tensely from the doorway. " I think it's time you leave."

"Good bye my darling." said Akito as he released his grip on her. "This will not be our last meeting, and don't forget that."

She strode out of the room as Shigure ran over to the shocked Tohru.

"are you alright?" he asked her with a very concerned look in his eye.

"yes, I'm fine." answered Tohru.

After Shigure was convinced that Tohru was just fine, he let her be. But thoughts of what Akito said bothered Tohru horribly. Was he still going to 'defile' her? Did he honestly think that Tohru could break the Sohma cure? And if she really could, what would become of her?

-----

So! I cure the cliff hanger, but i left another one, only this one isn't so bad. I promise to upload as soon as i can. Review, review, review!!!


	4. Chapter 4

okay, so it only took me four days for me to work up the courage to ask my grandpa if i could use his laptop to upload my next chapter. I'm sorry,

but all he has is wordpad and i do not feel like using good grammer for this. so for this once, please escuse me. I am also planning to upload the first

chapter of a sakura and sasuke fanfic.

SHOUT OUT TO APRIL you should try to write me more, missy!!

THe sun shined brightly for Yuki and kyou as they walked home from school.

"I sure can't wait 'til Tohru comes back to school tomarrow." Kyou announced as he grinned like a cheshire cat. "It's a bit lonely without her being so

cheerful all the time."

"I agree." said Yuki, smiling. "Do you suppose Tohru has rested enough?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Kyou snapped, annoyed with Yuki's 'dumb' question. "We'll just have to find out when we get there, now won't we?"

The boys walked the rest of the way home in bitter silence. As they approached the house, they caught a glimpse of Hatori leaving, and he was carrying his

doctor bag.

"Hatori wasn't supposed to come for Tohru's next checkup for another week..." said Yuki as the thought of Tohru getting hurt again hit the both of them.

They rushed the last few yards to the house and was in Tohru's room in seconds. They were releived to find Tohru sleeping peacefully.

They came back downstairs with the weight of their worry lifted from thier shoulders. They found Shigure seated in the dining room enjoying a cup of tea,

reading a book.

"Oh," he said as he saw Yuki and Kyou walk in. "How was your day?"

"Boring," answered Kyou in his tough way. "as usual."

"I see," Shigure replied with a chuckle. He then turned to YUki as he sat down opposite himself. "And how was your day, Yuki?"

"It was okay. Student Counsel is taking all of my energy, and I'm tired."

"I see."

There was a moment of silence before Kyou said, "Why was Hatori here?"

"Well," Shigure was hesitant to answer because he knew that both Yuki and Kyou would flip. Yuki already had problems with Akito as it was. Shigure cleared

his throat and took another drink of tea to stall.

"If this has anything to do with that damn Akito, then tell us!" Kyou said, getting angry.

"Did Akito come today?" asked Yuki as he narrowed his eyes.

Shigure looked up and tried his best to act as if he hadn't heard the question, but it was obvious that something was going on.

"Well?" said Kyou impatiently "Are you gonna tell us or n-" he was cut off because the door opened behind him and Tohru entered the room on her crutches. The

color was back in her cheeks and she was back to her healthy self. And in two weeks, she would be able to walk on it without crutches.

"Hi everyone!" she greeted, causing the very distraction Shigure needed.

"How was your day?" Yuki asked brightly as if nothing had happened before she came in.

"It was great!" she bluffed. "I got all the rest i needed, and now i'm ready to go back to school."

"That's good, Miss Honda." replied Yuki with a sweet smile. "I'm glad."

Kyou looked away for fear of upsetting Tohru. The fact that Hatori had been here ment that something had happened. Something was going on behind the scenes

that Tohru was fighting, and she seemed as if she were loosing. Why couldn't she just let them help her? The anger began to bubble inside Kyou until he

couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Damn it Tohru!" He screamed. "Why do you always have to go around and help everyone else but yourself? Why can't you just let us help you for this once,

huh? It's really starting to piss me off." His anger slowly subsided as he continued. "we all know that something has been bothering you, that something has

happened that you don't want us to know. You want to fight this on your own, but we want to help you. Damn it, Tohru, we care about you too, ya know, so why

won't you tell us already?"

Tohru stood there, wide-eyed. For once, she didn't know what to say.

The tension in the room was great as Yuki glared at Kyou. Shigure shrank back into the background and stayed quiet.

I've got to get out of here, thought Tohru. I can▓t let them see me cry┘

She gazed down at the floor and bit her lip to keep in the tears. Nobody stopped her as she slowly backed out of the room and went outside. Nobody followed her as she slowly made her way up into the surrounding forest. When she felt like she was far enough away from the house, she collapsed next to a tree and began to sob.

Why was Kyou so angry? Did he really feel betrayed because she wanted to fight Akito on her own? Does he really care about her that much?

Tohru continued to let the tears come. She cried because Kyou had scared her. She cried because she was afraid of what would come when she met Akito next. Would he defile her, as he promised? Would he kill her because she didn▓t know how to break the curse? Tohru was so caught up in her thought, she didn▓t hear them approach.

⌠Tohru?■ Kyou said softly, startling the crying girl.

Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red and swollen. The sight of their Tohru in this state nearly made them cry as well.

⌠I-■ began Kyou ⌠I▓m sorry. I didn▓t mean to, you know, go off on you like that.■ the words came out rougher than he would▓ve liked.

Yuki couldn▓t break his gaze from Tohru▓s broken form.

⌠No,■ she began softly. ⌠I-I should be the one to apologize.■ she looked down as she continued. ⌠I should have told you, instead of lying about the whole thing. You have the right to be angry with me. It was just,■ she sniffled, ⌠I didn▓t want to upset you.■

She broke into a fresh set of tears and Kyou ran back to the house before Yuki could see him cry.

Yuki crouched down and wrapped an arm around Tohru▓s shoulders; carefully, so as to avoid transforming.

⌠Miss Honda, you know we will help you with whatever you need help with.■ Yuki▓s voice began to crack as he continued, ⌠We▓ll fight your battles with you, as well as cry with you┘■ Yuki▓s voice became hushed and Tohru felt a tear fall on her hand.

When she looked up, she was shocked to find Yuki crying. She couldn▓t see Kyou, and she guessed he went back to the house. Is Kyou crying too? thought Tohru.

There was a few moments of silence before Tohru reached the amount of courage needed to tell Yuki what had happened.

⌠Yuki?■

⌠Yes, Miss Honda?■ Yuki wiped his tears away and sat back facing Tohru.

⌠It was Akito.■

Yuki was shocked, but not appalled. It always seemed as if Akito didn▓t like Tohru, but why would he want to hurt her?

Tohru sighed and looked away before continuing.

⌠At first, he said he was going to defile me, and then he came back today and said that I had the power to break the Sohma curse. He begged me to free him, but I didn▓t know what to do. He was choking me, and I thought I wasn▓t going to make it when Shigure came in and told Akito to leave.■

Fury burned in Yuki▓s heart, but he refused to let Tohru see it. Akito had gone too far this time, and now he is going to pay, one way or another.

Yuki helped Tohru up into her crutches and then back to the house. Tohru went back up to bed while Yuki went in search of Kyou.

Kyou wasn▓t hard to find since his favorite place to hide was on the roof. Yuki climbed silently and swiftly.

⌠What do you want, rat?■ Kyou didn▓t put as much energy into the insult, as he usually did.

⌠she told me.■

⌠┘■

⌠Akito threatened her, and that▓s why she was having those nightmares. He also came here professing that Tohru could break the curse.■ Yuki cut off and sat next to Kyou with his arms folded over his legs.

⌠Why did Hatori come then?■ Kyou asked, obviously interested in what Yuki had to say.

⌠When Tohru said she didn▓t know what Akito was talking about, Akito went nuts and tried to strangle her.■

Yuki and Kyou both clenched their fists and gritted their teeth.

⌠Tohru seems okay now, so I▓m not worried about her, but the fact that Akito came here when she was most defenseless without us, means that Akito doesn▓t want to fight us.■ Said Yuki, sighing.

⌠You like her, don▓t you?■ Asked Kyou softly.

⌠Well, of course I do, she▓s my friend.■ Yuki could see where this was going and he gulped.

⌠you know what I mean, Yuki.■

Yuki▓s eyes widened at the gentleness of Kyou▓s voice.

⌠Yes.■ said Yuki quietly as he looked up into the sky. ⌠I do like her. Everything about her is so sweet and kind. Her eyes especially. They seem as if they light up whenever she▓s happy.■

⌠ I can see the way you look at her.■ replied Kyou ⌠It▓s obvious. But,■ Kyou looked into Yuki▓s surprised eyes. ⌠Why don▓t you tell her?■

⌠I-■ Yuki didn▓t know what to say. He wanted to tell her, but, what if she didn▓t feel the same way? ⌠I don▓t think she needs to know.■

With that, Yuki left a surprised Kyou speechless on the roof.

Kyou sat there for the rest of the afternoon and watched the sunset. The stars were twinkling brightly when he finally came down. He walked up the stairs quietly and was not surprised to find Yuki standing at Tohru▓s door, watching her sleep.

Before Yuki could see Kyou, Kyou dodged into his own room and went to bed.

The next morning, Shigure awoke to the sweet aroma of Tohru▓s cooking.

⌠No,■ Shigure thought aloud. ⌠ She couldn▓t be┘■ he got up and put on his kimono in mere second s and was in to kitchen in a flash.

There she was, with her crutches, making breakfast. Usually, Shigure would get up an hour early to enjoy the morning paper in silence, but it seemed as if Tohru even beat his early record. Tohru shouldn▓t have gone through the trouble of making breakfast because she was on crutches. She should be resting.

⌠Good morning, Shigure!■ greeted Tohru. ⌠Did you get a good night▓s rest?■

⌠Yes, I did,■ he replied. ⌠ Thank you for going through the trouble of making breakfast.■

⌠I made lunch too!■ She said with a giggle, and sure enough, there were four boxed lunches on the counter.

⌠Hey, Shigure?■ asked Tohru

⌠Yes?■

⌠would you mind waking up Yuki and Kyou for me? You guys really slept in this morning and I was beginning to think that I was going to have to go up and wake you up myself.■

⌠Okay.■ agreed Shigure as he walked out.

Few! thought Shigure I thought she had gotten up just to make breakfast for everyone.

After breakfast, the three had to hurry to get to school on time.

⌠Tohru-■ began Yuki as he watched Tohru struggle to keep up. ⌠ would you mind if I carried you?■

Kyou stopped and turned with a smirk. ⌠I▓ll carry your crutches,■ Kyou piped in.

⌠Uh-■ Tohru didn▓t want to be a burden on anyone, but she did realize that she was slowing everyone down. ⌠I guess it will be okay.■ she answered. ⌠ As long as I▓m not a burden, of course.■ she added

⌠Your not a burden.■ replied Yuki as he picked her up bridal style so as to not transform.

The Yuki fan club girls went nuts when they saw Tohru return to school in Yuki▓s arms. As soon as Yuki was no longer with Tohru, the girls attacked.

⌠What were you doing, being carried by Yuki?■

⌠You had better not do that again!■

⌠Stay away from Prince Yuki!■

⌠Yeah!■

They were surrounding Tohru as she tried not to look afraid.

⌠Eh-■ she gulped. ⌠I-I, we were going to be late for school-my broken ankle. I-I didn▓t mean to offend you.■

⌠That had better be true Miss Honda!■ they spat at her before turning white.

Tohru turned to find Kyou standing over her, glaring at the girls.

⌠You had better leave her alone. What she▓s told you is true, now scat!■ Kyou turned to face Tohru and said, ⌠Yuki is going to see Akito after school, so it▓s gonna be just you and me, okay?■

⌠Okay.■ agreed Tohru with a sweet smile before the two had to go to class.

-----

Okay, so it took me much longer to type this out than I thought. I had the entire chapter written out, and where I am staying at right now, there▓s no chairs for the table, so it was difficult to find a place suitable enough for me to type out me story. I think this took me about three hours to type, which is pretty sad┘

Yeah, so I don▓t think I will be able to upload my sakura/sasuke for a while, although, it is a good story. I▓m already working on chapter five for this story and chapter two for my ss.

So this is where I say GOOD NITE! It is really late┘ yeah. So bye. 


	5. Chapter 5

okay, so i've been kinda lazy lately, but i have been having success on my tan. yay!! so here is the next chapter.

luv ya April!!

after school, kyou let tohru ride on his back. she refused at first because she didn't want to be a burden on anyone, but kyou insisted and so tohru had no other choice but to give her consent.

"hey tohru?" asked kyou

"yes, kyou?" she answered

"do you like yuki, like, you know-" he glanced at tohru to see her reaction.

"i-m not sure what you mean." her face became flushed as she continued, "of course i like him. he's my frien."

"He likes you, but he's too shy to admit it, you."

"i-i see."

they walked the remaining distance to the house in silence. kyou set tohru down on the porch and handed her the crutches.

"thank-you, kyou. i really appreciate you helping me like this."

"it's no big deal. you just needed help, and i was the one who was there. yuki would have done it if he had been there."

"thank you anyway." replied tohru sweetly.

"oh! tohru!" called someone from inside. "tohru! i've missed you! I haven't seen you in so long!" momiji popped out from behind the shojo screen and grinned wildly.

"hello momiji!" tohru greeted "how have you been?"

"grrrreeeaaat!" he replied as he stepped out onto the porch. "i heard about what happened to your foot, and akito finally gave me permission to come and visit you. "

"why don't we go inside and get some snacks?" asked tohru, direction the question toward kyou.

"sure, whatever." he replied. "i can't believe that annoying little kid came over here to visit."

"hey!" momiji cried. "i'm not that little!"

"you sure do act like it!"

and then the sparks began to fly. kyou didn't even notice tohru as she went inside to prepare her promised snacks.

"good afternoon tohru."

"huh?" tohru turned, surprised, to face shigure.

"oh!" she said, smiling. "good afternoon to you too."

"did you have a good day at school?"

"yes, i did." she replied as she turned to continue preparing jelly rolls. tohru continued, " i had a lot of help from my friends. they really seem to care about me."

"of course they do." replied shigure. "you're such a nice girl, it's hard not to like you."

tohru's face flushed as she said 'thank you'

"shigure?" asked tohru after a moment.

"yes?"

"do you think you could help me carry these into the dining room?" she signaled toward the buns. "it's kinda hard to with my crutches, you know-"

"yes, of course." shigure hopped up and picked the tray up as he followed tohru into the dining room.

kyou and momiji had come in and were now seated at opposite ends of the table.

"hello, tohru!" momiji greeted happily.

"hello momiji." she replied. tohru then turned to kyou. "are you hungry, kyou? i made some jelly buns."

"sure he mumbled and swiped one as soon as shigure set the plate down.

tohru sat down and enjoyed the presence of her friends, even if they were bickering.

-----

"brother..."

akito sat in the back of his favorite room, on his 'throne'.

"why, yuki, you almost seem...angry." akito grinned slyly. "what has brought you to grace me with your presence? it has been such a long time since we really had any quality time together."

"when tohru came to the sohma estate, she came to visit momiji and hatori. how did she end up seeing you here?"

"oh, my dear little brother, why do you have to act so defensive?" akito smirked.

"tell me now." yuki clenched his fists, his voice dripping with venom.

"what?" akito asked, bored. "do you have _feelings_ for her, or something?"

"..."

"do you know what she is?"

"..."

"do you know what she can do?"

"..."

akito stood and began to walk toward the stone-faced yuki. yuki expected he was going to get hit for not answering akito, but instead, akito just walked past him.

"come."

yuki complied and followed akito out of the room.

Akito led the way out of the house and made his way toward the back of the estate. there stood the small shrine that akito was supposed to pray to for his life to be enlongated.

akito opened up the door to reveal a pedestool. there was a long crack stretching from the top corner to the opposite corner on the bottom.

yuki studdied it carefully and came to the conclution that akito must've kicked it in his rage.

akito grabbed the cracked structure and pushed it foreward, revealing a small stash of scrolls.

"take these." akito ordered yuki.

yuki looked at akito questionably, hoping for somesort of explanation as to why this was here, but akito only had on a blank stare as he watched yuki grab the armful of documents.

akito turned and walked back to his room with yuki following not far behind. akito sat back on his throne without saying a word to yuki.

the silence was gut-wrenching to yuki as he stood there waiting for his next order.

"read."

yuki hesitated for a moment, but complied when akito gave hima cold hard stare. he sat down and grabbed a scroll.

in the top hand corner, it read '1'. yuki unraveled it the scroll further to find that there were pictures of the zodiac animals with names underneathe them. at the end of the first set, there was a cat, and then a horrible looking creature. possibly even more repulsive than kyou's second form. _could this be akito's form?_

the rest of the scroll continued onwith the same patturn of animals and names.

"what is this?" yuki dared to ask.

"the timeline of the zodiac memebers." akito looked at yuki, but this time, there was no animosity in them. akito continued, "read he seventh scroll. it holds the key."

yuki once again complied and looked for the seventh scroll. he found it on the second try and opened it up. once again, it had animals and names. his eyes traveled down the legnth and began to recognize some of the names. and then, his eyes fell on his generation. there was kyou, shigure, hatori, and all the other memebers. and then there was akito under that hideous monster.

"keep going-" akito urged with a crazy glint in his eye.

yuki unraveled the scroll the rest of the way and gasped at what he saw.

there was tohru's name, and above it, was the symbol for the pure heart.

following the picture was the prophesy.

"read it to me, yuki." akito said seductively as he rose to sit beside his little brother, along with that mad glint in his eyes.

yuki gulped as he made a silent plea for help.

"when the time is right, the pure heart will know the key to saving the cursed through the greatest act of sincere love."

yuki tensed, not knowing what to expect from akito.

akito did the very last thing yuki would have expected him to do. he cried.

"yuki?"

"yes, brother."

"do you know what the greatest act of sincere love is?"

"no." yuki didn't understand why he did it, but he did it all the same. he leaned over to akito and embraced his big brother.

"i don't want to die, yuki!" he sobbed as he clung onto yuki's clothes. "you have to tell her!" akito said as he attempted to pull himself back together. "tell her how you feel."

------

tohru was humming softly in the kitchen when yuki returned home. the smells floating around the house made his stomach grumble.

"hello yuki!" said tohru brightly as she saw yuki come into the kitchen, but she turned back around and continued to cook to hide the scarlet blush that had krept out.

thoughts of what kyou had told her swarmed around in her head as she felt yuki's presence behind her. of course she liked him, but she wasn't ready to admit it just yet.

yuki stood there beating himself up over how he was an idiot for thinking tohru might like him back. she turned away from him just as soon as she had seen him.

tohru took a deep breath to keep her calm before she went to turn around. as she began to turn, she was caught in yuki's kiss. she was so shocked that she didn't even think of kissing him back.

-----

So? what do ya think? well, im thinking i am out of ideas!!! i know what i want for later on in the story, but right now, i need to really think about this, so anyway, im gonna scoot!!


	6. Chapter 6

okay people!! i did not realize that this would be my final chapter until i wrote it, but don't forget about this story just yet, im planning an epligue. it's just for fun, but i had to do it, yeah.

so here we go...

_"do you know what the greatest act of sincere love is?"_

_"no."_

_"it's...a kiss."_

-----

Tohru froze as Yuki plunged deeper into the kiss. she didn't know what to do' what to say.

yuki pulled tohru into an embrace after having pulled away from tohru's lips.

POOF!

_how embarrasing_, thought yuki as he lay sadly on the floor.

tohru stood there in a haze of amazment, eyes wide.

shigure and momiji popped in moments later to find out what all the ruckus was about.

"tohru?" shigure asked in confusion. it wasn't like this was the first time she accidentally buped into yuki, making him trasform.

"tohru, are you okay?" asked momiji as he waltzed into the kitchen.

tohru seemed to snap out of her thoughts and replied, rather fast, "oh, no! nothing's wrong here! see?" she replied brushing off the fact that she'd just been traumatized. "i'll just take yuki up to his room to rest. i think he bumped his head when he fell." it wasn't hard for yuki to look like he really had hurt himself, considering how humiliated he was.

tohru carried him up to his room and set him on his bed.

"have sweet dreams!" said tohru before exiting.

yuki sighed and plopped onto his side.

-----

tohru sat and ate with everyone, but her thoughts were elsewhere. it was now clear that yuki did like her back, but kyou said that yuki was too shy to tell her, so how had he brought himself up to just kiss her?

_akito!_ yuki went to akito's house today. what did akito do to yuki? was it for the good, or for the bad?

tohru wanted answers to all her questions, and she was going to get them, after she cleaned up from dinner, of course.

-----

"shigure?"

"yes, tohru?"

"i'm going to go to bed early, okay?"

"okay then, have sweet dreams! night, tohru!" he called to her as he exited. instead of going up to her room, tohru left the house through a back door.

It took her awile to get to the estate, considering her crutches, but she made it in good time, just as the sun was setting.

she looked for the hole in the wall that momo had shown her the day she went to go find kureno, and crawled through it. she pulled out the map to akito's house that momiji had given her to find the building that akito and kureno were in.

it wasn't hard for tohru to find her way, since she had alread walked it once before, and, sure enough, there lay akito on his porch.

tohru gulped as she approached him. his gaze seemed to throw daggers at her.

"akito..." she tried to begin, but her courage failed her. "i-i-" she gulped again as he stood up.

"i had a feeling we'd be meeting tonight." he said. "he kissed you, didn't he?"

the surprised look tohru gave him told him all he needed to know.

"i know what you are, what you can do, for us, the zodiac members."

there was a strange glint in his eye as he stepped down from the porch.

thoru sweat dropped as she took a step back.

"don't be afraid," he said a little gently. "i'm not angry anymore, and im not going to hurt you."

he sat down, and tohru relaxed a little, but she kept her guard up since she was still terribly frightened of akito.

"it was when i was praying to my shrine, i got really angry. i kicked it, see, and underneathe the pedestool, there were seven scrolls. written upon each scfoll, were each generaion of sohmas who were cursed. on the last scroll though, were the names of my genertion, and there was yours, miss honda."

"m-mine?" tohru asked, wide eyed. "i don't understand. why would my name be in there?"

"let me finish." akito said, drawing out the impatience in tohru. "above your name, was the symbol for a pure heart. there was a prophesy following, saying that you could break our curse, throug a kiss. of course, me being the way i was, i became enraged. i was geleous (i don't know how to spell it! tears) for rin, my rin, who wanted so badly to break it for me. and i had my hopes set high on her. when she gave up, i felt that my end was set in stone." he sighed before continuing. "i wanted to ruin you for rin. you were going to steal the glory that she wanted so badly to have. i wanted to hurt you, to ruin you and to make it so that you couldn't break our curse. after we met that first time, i realized how big a mistake i had made. i wanted to kill you at the cost of my own life, and, wasn't my life what i treasure most? this time, i became desperate for my life. i went to you, thinking that, if i were to go to you, and threaten you to save me, you would. but of course that didn't work. you didn't even know what to do, and i was to proud to tell you. i knew yuki would end up coming here after what i did to you, and so i settled on showing him the scroll. and that's what led us to where we are now."

tohru gazed down as she soaked in what she had just heard.

"yuki kissed you, not just to be freed of this awful curse, but also so he could have _you_. he wanted to be able to hold you, like a normal person would be able to do. he did it because he _loves_ you."

akito sighed once again and layed back down. "good night, miss honda." he said as tohru turned and headed back home.

-----

_pat pat_

"go away." yuki said gruffly as he lay in bed. he hadn't even bothered to get dressed after tohru had set him down, although, he did cover up with his blanket.

the door slid open, and someone stepped in.

"i said go-" he stopped midsentence as he saw tohru standing there, without her crutches.

"tohru..." he breathed.

she began to limp toward him, a small smile on her face, even though each step hurt her.

yuki was up in an instant to help her.

"yuki..." she whispered as she rested her hands on each side of his face. "i forgot to kiss you back-"

thier lips touched, and it seemed as if the two were glowing.

but then, yuki pulled away as if someone were hurting him from behind.

"yuki!" tohru cried in alarm as they both fell to the ground.

tohru yelped as she hit her foot.

yuki continued to scream in pain, and tohru could hear shigure, kyou and momiji screaming at the top of thier lungs.

_oh no!_ she thought _what did i do to them?_

tohru watched as yuki began to glow . a light began to shine, originating from inbetween yuki's shoulder blades. tohru watched wide-eyed as a rat came floating out of the light.

yuki stopped screaming as he too, watched the rat hover above tohru.

a cat, a rabbit and a dog appeared in the room and began to surround tohru.

she looked at them nervously, and then gulped.

an ox entered the room, and then a horse. the goat and the tiger entered together. a monkey came in nervously to float above tohru's head. the boar, the snake and the dragon all entered together and took thier places floating around tohru.

all the animals looked to tohru, as if to say, 'thank you'.

a monster then entered and took a look at tohru before bursting into light.

the rest of the animals began to dance around tohru. they spun faster and faster until they were just a blur.

they then zoned in on tohru's broken ankle, and then they too, burst into light.

tohru's eyes widened when she realized that her ankle was no longer broken. she leaned her weight on it and found that it was as good as new.

"yu-ki..." she said, wide eyed. "my...foot..."

she smiled happily before collapsing into an unconscious heap.

-----

yuki threw on some clothes before going back to tohru.

he craddled her in his arms, delighted when he didn't transform. it was broken, the curse was broken!!

now he could hold tohru in his arms and maybe, someday, he could marry her. they could have children without the fear of one of them being cursed

yuki closed his eyes and cried tears of joy. he was free! he no longer had to live in fear of the sohma secret becoming known, and that feeling of happiness, felt eternal.

kyou came in, wide-eyed as he watched yuki crying over the sleeping tohru.

"kyou," yuki said, wiping the tears away. "kyou, we're free!"

kyou fell to his knee and didn't even notice when he too, began to cry.

that night, every zociac member cried in thier own way. they cried with the new hope of a new future that had been given to them by the girl with a pure heart.

-----

so, that's it folks!...kinda. i still have the epligue to work on, and it has something to do with the yuki fanclub girls, yeah.


End file.
